I was born in 1942. I grew up in Gateshead UK. My father was a Royal Air Force pilot and my mother was a handmaid. I got drafted into the military shortly after graduating High School. I served in the British Army at the Dhofar Rebellion, Indonesian-Malaysia Conflict, and Aden Emergency. I got a medical discharge after receiving a back injury in 1965. I married my wife in 1968 and worked as a newspaper columnist until I retired in 2019. I have 11 kids, 24 grandkids, and 2 great grandkids.